SWISS to Drop airBaltic Wet-Lease Flights After Winter and Fly More With Its Own Jets

October 28, 2026 — SWISS will end its wet-lease partnership with airBaltic at the close of the 2026/27 winter schedule and cut the number of aircraft it leases with crews from other airlines, the Lufthansa Group carrier announced on October 27.

What happened

SWISS has relied on wet-leased aircraft — planes flown by another airline’s crews on SWISS’s behalf — to cover a capacity shortfall caused by engine problems, spare-parts shortages and a lack of pilots and cabin crew. The airline now says those bottlenecks are gradually easing, with more engines available and cockpit staffing improving. FlightGlobal summed up the airline’s reasoning as an “easing of engine availability and staffing issues.”

Some customers had criticised the airBaltic-operated flights for limited German-language service and a lack of a “Swiss feel,” according to Swiss news site Bluewin. airBaltic has not said what will happen to the aircraft and crews currently flying for SWISS (TBA).

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What it means for travelers

• Check the operating carrier when you book. Through winter, some SWISS-numbered flights are still operated by airBaltic. From summer 2027, more of the schedule will be flown by SWISS itself or Helvetic.
• More of SWISS’s own capacity: Additional A320s and crews returning to service should make the operation less dependent on outside partners, which tends to help reliability during peak periods.
• airBaltic staff: Losing a large wet-lease customer is significant for airBaltic. Watch for its plans for those aircraft next summer.

Sources

• Bluewin: Swiss is using fewer third-party airlines—no more Air Baltic
• FlightGlobal: Swiss ends wet-lease deal with Air Baltic to focus on Helvetic and in-house flying